Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/104

* COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY. COAST AND GE'ODET'IC SURVEY', United States. A bureau of the Treasury De- partment which has for its object, first, the survey of the coasts of the United States, prin- cipally for the benefit of commerce ; and, second, the task of determining the magnetic elements, exact elevations, and geographical positions of the interior. The origin of the survey dates from recommendations made by President Jef- ferson in 1807 in his message to Congress. As the result of these recommendations an act of Congress, approved February 10, 1807, author- ized a survey of the coast of the United States and appropriated $50,000 to pay for begimiing the -work. On JIarch 25, 1807, a circular letter from the Secretary of the Treasury requested plans for the execution of the work. Nothing was immediatel.y done beyond the consideration of these plans, and no further action was taken until April IG, 1811, when F. R. Hassler (q.v.), whose plans had been approved by President Jefferson, was sent to Eurojie to procure the necessary instruments. Mr. Hassler's proposed plan, brielly stated, was to determine tlie posi- tions of certain prominent points of the coast by astronomical observations and to connect these points by trigonometrical lines from which to make a geodetic survey. Mr. Hassler sailed for Europe on August 29, 1811, and owing largely to the war between England and the United States which intervened, he spent four years in England and on the Continent, returning to the United States with his outfit complete on Octo- ber 16, 1815. Field work was actually begun on August C, 1816, under the direction of Mr. Hassler as superintendent. From this time until April 14, 1818, operations were continued in the vicinity of New York City. A base line was measured in the valley of English Creek, May 7, 1817, and one of verification, twice measured, was completed on December 6 of the same year. The triangulation connecting these measured lines represents the nucleus of the work of the Coast Survey and embodies its first tangible results. The trigonometric work now spans the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Maine to Jlobile; it covers the entire coast and promises ultimately through the cooperation of Canada and Jlexico t;o encompass the conti- nent from Acapulco to the Aietic Ocean. On April 14, 1818, it was enacted by Congress that ■so much of the law relating to the survey of the coast as authorized the emplojonent of other persons than those belonging to the army and navy be repealed. Between 1818 and 1832 little work was done. The instruments, records, and funds were transferred to the War Department, and the Coast Survey may therefore be consid- ered as in army service during this period. In 1823, 1824, and 1825 efforts were made by the Navy Department to establish a hydro- graphic corps, but public sentiment favored a return to the ideas of Jefferson. Bills were in- troduced in Congress in 1828 and in 1831, and one was finally passed, on July 10, 1832. carry- ing into effect the original law of 1807. On August 9 of the same year Mr. Hassler was again appointed superintendent. Field work was re- sumed in April, 1833. Less than a year later, March 12, 1834, the administration of the Sur- vey was transferred from the Treasury Depart- ment to the Na'y Department, Mr. Hassler, however, remaining in charge. These conditions 78 COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY. held for two years, when a transfer was effeeted on March 25, 1838, and the Treasury De- partment again assumed control. Operations continued Avithout interruption until March 30, 1843, when a Board of Reorganization was con- vened with ilr. Hassler as chairman. The plan submitted by this b(,ard practically continued in force the plans which had been formulated and acted upon in former years by ilr. Hassler. The scientific organization of the Survey may, there- fcrre, be properly said to date from 1832. The minor details of the organization have been changed at various times so that the present is in part the result of a gradual evolution, ilr. Hassler died on November 20, 1843, having held the oflice of superintendent twice, from August 3, 1816, to April 14, 1818. and from August 9, 1832, to November 20, 1843, During his incumbency of office the original triangulation in the vicinity of New York City was extended eastward to Point Judith, Rhode Island, and southward to Cape Henlopen, Delaware. Altogether the area included in this triangulation amounted to 9000 square miles, and determined the positions of about 1200 stations to be used in the delineation of about 1600 miles of shore line. Mr. Hassler was succeeded by Prof. A. D. Bache (q.v.), who became superintendent on December 12, 1843. Professor Bache extended the triangulation along the South Atlantic Coast and among the Florida Keys. He also instituted regular and systematic observations of the tides and the Gulf Stream and investigated magnetic forces and directions. The Civil War practically stopped the survey, although many of its officers were assigned to service on Federal war vessels, where their knowledge of the coast waters proved of great service in the various naval operations which were conducted by the Northern fleets. In 1807 Professor Bache died and was succeeded by Prof. Benjamin Pierce, of Harvard University, who served until February 17, 1874. Since then the successive heads of the Survey have been: Car- lile Patterson, who served until his death in 1881 ; Prof. Julius E. Hilgard, who resigned in 1885; Frank M. Thorn, who resigned in 1889; Prof. T. C. Mendenhall. who resigned in 1894 to become president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute; (Jen: W. W. Duffield, who resigned in 1S98 ; Prof. Henry S. Pritchett, who resigned in 1900 to become president of Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology, and 0. H. Tittman, who was appointed superintendent in 1901. Turning now to the present organization of the Survey, the original and the principal purpose of the" org;inization is a survey of the coasts of the United States primarily for the benefit of commerce. It is charged with the duty of pub- lishing all results of such a survey that may be useful to the public. There has been added to its original duty, by legislation, that of determining the magnetic elements, exact ele- vations, and geographical positions of the inte- rior. In 1878 the name of the organization was changed by Congress from .Coast Survey to Coast and Geodetic Survey, in recognition of the extension of its functions to include triangula- tions in the interior. The Coast and Geodetic Survev is a bureau of the Treasury Department; the head of the bureau, knowTi as the superintendent, reports to the Secretary of the Treasury. The superin- tendent is charged with full responsibility in